1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments. The present invention relates more particularly to an electric guitar having a solid body based on monolithic construction that is configured so as to endow the guitar with custom performance characteristics achieved by precision manufacturing to desired specifications.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates to stringed musical instruments, such as guitars, and to methods for making such stringed instruments. Stringed instruments traditionally have been constructed of wood, but also have been fabricated from other materials such as plastics, molded composite materials, and combinations of such materials. In many conventional stringed instruments, the various components are constructed separately, and then joined to form a finished instrument. Because the structural integrity of a stringed instrument affects the tonal quality and sound output of the instrument, stringed instruments made from separately joined parts experience some loss in sound quality. A musical instrument is known by its tone; in fact, tone is everything. There are numerous guitar designs, each producing a slightly different tone. Guitars vary widely not only to accommodate the various types of sound qualities desired, but also to display aesthetic qualities that reflect the user's particular style or personality. Generally there are two basic types of guitar, a hollow-bodied, thin shell, resonant guitar, such as the classic Spanish guitar, and a solid-bodied guitar, such as an electric guitar. The hollow-bodied guitar depends largely for its tone and volume on the resonance within and of the hollow body produced by the vibrating strings. The electric guitar, on the other hand, depends largely for its tone and volume upon the interaction of the vibrating strings with the magnetic field produced by a pickup positioned under the strings. Generally the hollow-bodied guitar produces a softer, mellower tone, whereas the solid body electric guitar produces a crisper, brighter tone, one of longer duration.
Over the centuries stringed musical instruments have experimented with the shape, size, and materials of construction for the main body. This has led to the familiar sounds produced by violins, guitars, cellos and basses, the sound of each being determined by the materials and design characteristics.
Wood, an organic material, has been the material of choice to produce these instruments. The selections of wood cuts (encompassing all varieties of woods), have been used to obtain the variations of tone and pitch within each class of instrument. The manufacturers of these instruments are continually striving to produce the sound desired by the player and further attempting to replicate the desired instruments' characteristics during manufacture of same.
Wood, being subject to vagaries of nature, has many distinct disadvantages which result in defects and undesirable tonal variations. These variations result from changes in the wood due to environmental growing conditions, the most prominent being temperature and humidity. These parameters can result in the swelling or shrinking of the wood resulting in unwanted tonal variations.
Lot to lot fluctuations in wood characteristics can also affect the final instrument body. These fluctuations include differing grain patterns and wood densities between trees. Differing techniques in cutting and drying procedures between mills also contribute to lot differences.
These disadvantages have led to the development of alternative materials of construction for stringed instrument bodies. These include U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,990, disclosing an invention for a graphite fiber/epoxy resin body and U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,219, describing a stringed musical instrument body constructed from polyurethane. Other constructions have also made use of metal in all metal or composite designs using a hybrid of metal and other materials such as wood. These inventions attempt to resolve several of the problems associated with wood, but produce a sound unique to their construction which may or may not be desirable to the trained observer.
Also there have been many structural designs which attempt to reduce weight and retain the rigidity of a solid body. However, these designs also introduce new drawbacks such as panel vibrations or interference by feedback sound effects. These panel vibrations or lack of the vibrations contribute to the tonality of the various instrument bodies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,238 describes a semi-hollow guitar apparatus.
Although innovative, none of the above mentioned efforts to develop an alternative construction material for stringed instruments offer the sound and adjustability of the present invention. A dual, top and bottom, monolithic structured, chambered metal body guitar construction eliminates many of the problems associated with variation problems in wood and shortcomings of wood itself since metal stock is produced following strict quality control procedures as in the aircraft manufacturing industry.
The method of monolithic structures has been used in the aircraft industry since the 1960's with the advent of CNC machining. This method enables complex structures, with a high strength-to-weight ratio, to maintain a rigid structure. This is usually unattainable by conventional wood and/or metal built-up design type constructions. This method is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,815 B2, describing monolithic parts and U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,669, describing integrated monolithic aluminum structure and aluminum product machined from that structure.
The production method of the present invention allows for exact reproduction of the instrument body via digital means, CAD and CNC machining. This ensures replication of the tonal qualities of the instrument body from instrument to instrument, overcoming the variations of wood and/or other composite materials.
The historical disadvantage to an all-metal guitar body is the weight of the metal. Excessive weight results in an undesirable product. This drawback has also been overcome with the present invention by means of the internal chambering methods.
Another pervasive disadvantage to an all-metal guitar body is the thin panel vibrations and resonances. These are suppressed by the addition of damping material inside the closed chambers.
These disadvantages have also been overcome with the present invention.